Merian C. Cooper Movies

If John Ford is the greatest Western director, The Searchers is arguably his greatest film, at once a grand outdoor spectacle like such Ford classics as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon (1949) and Rio Grande (1950) and a film about one man's troubling moral codes, a big-screen adventure of the 1950s that anticipated the complex themes and characters that would dominate the 1970s. John Wayne plays Ethan Edwards, a former Confederate soldier who returns to his brother Aaron's frontier cabin three years after the end of the Civil War. Ethan still has his rebel uniform and weapons, a large stash of Yankee gold, and no explanations as to where he's been since Lee's surrender. A loner not comfortable in the bosom of his family, Ethan also harbors a bitter hatred of Indians (though he knows their lore and language well) and trusts no one but himself. Ethan and Martin Pawley (Jeffrey Hunter), Aaron's adopted son, join a makeshift band of Texas Rangers fending off an assault by renegade Comanches. Before they can run off the Indians, several homes are attacked, and Ethan returns to discover his brother and sister-in-law dead and their two daughters kidnapped. While they soon learn that one of the girls is dead, the other, Debbie, is still alive, and with obsessive determination, Ethan and Martin spend the next five years in a relentless search for Debbie -- and for Scar (Henry Brandon), the fearsome Comanche chief who abducted her. But while Martin wants to save his sister and bring her home, Ethan seems primarily motivated by his hatred of the Comanches; it's hard to say if he wants to rescue Debbie or murder the girl who has lived with Indians too long to be considered "white." John Wayne gives perhaps his finest performance in a role that predated screen antiheroes of the 1970s; by the film's conclusion, his single-minded obsession seems less like heroism and more like madness. Wayne bravely refuses to soft-pedal Ethan's ugly side, and the result is a remarkable portrait of a man incapable of answering to anyone but himself, who ultimately has more in common with his despised Indians than with his more "civilized" brethren. Natalie Wood is striking in her brief role as the 16-year-old Debbie, lost between two worlds, and Winton C. Hoch's Technicolor photography captures Monument Valley's savage beauty with subtle grace. The Searchers paved the way for such revisionist Westerns as The Wild Bunch (1969) and McCabe & Mrs. Miller (1971), and its influence on movies from Taxi Driver (1976) to Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Star Wars (1977) testifies to its lasting importance. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Returning to the Ireland of his birth, director John Ford fashions a irresistable valentine to the "Auld Sod" in The Quiet Man. Irish-American boxer John Wayne, recovering from the trauma of having accidentally killed a man in the ring, arrives in the Irish village where he was born. Hoping to bury his past and settle down to a life of tranquility, Wayne has purchased the home of his birth from wealthy local widow Mildred Natwick, a transaction that has incurred the wrath of pugnacious squire Victor McLaglen, who coveted the property for himself. By and by, Wayne falls in love with McLaglen's beautiful, high-spirited sister Maureen O'Hara. Her insistence that Wayne conduct his courtship in a proper Irish manner-with puckish matchmaker Barry Fitzgerald along for the ride as "chaperone"--is but one obstacle to their future happiness: the other is McLaglen, who spitefully refuses to give his consent to his sister's marriage, or to honor the tradition of paying a dowry to Wayne. Wayne could care less about dowries, but the tradition-bound Maureen refuses to consummate her marriage until McLaglen pays up. Under any other circumstances, Wayne would have punched out the bullying McLaglen long ago, but ever since his tragedy in the ring he has been reluctant to fight. Local priest Ward Bond conspires with several locals to trick McLaglen into paying his due. They intimate that widow Natwick, for whom McLaglen carries a torch, will marry the old brute if he'll give his consent to the marriage and fork over the dowry. But McLaglen finds he's been tricked and the situation remains at a standoff, with the frustrated Wayne locked out of his wife's bedroom. When Maureen accuses him of being a coward and walks out on him, our hero can stand no more. He marches Maureen to McLaglen's home, indicating that he plans to whale the tar out of both brother and sister. As a huge and appreciative crowd gathers the cornered McLaglen truculently tosses the money in Wayne's direction. Big John hands the bills to Maureen, just as she knew he would, and she ceremoniously destroys the money, just as he knew je would. Having proven their love for each other, there is nothing left for Wayne and Maureen to do but head home and perform their nuptual duties. But first there's the matter of giving McLaglen the thrashing he deserves....and it is this spectacular donnybrook, which covers several acres of land and at least two "pit stops" so that the combatants can quench their thirst, which convinces Natwick that the defeated McLaglen is truly worthy of her love (her logic is on a par with everyone else's in the film!) Though it tends to perpetuate the myth that all true Irishmen live only to fight, drink and make love, The Quiet Man is grand and glorious fun, enacted with gusto by a largely Hibernian cast and directed with loving care by a master of his craft. Written by Frank Nugent and graced with a lilting musical score by Victor Young, the film won Oscars for Archie Stout's Technicolor photography and for John Ford's direction-a real coup for "poverty row" Republic Pictures. If you haven't already luxuriated in this wonderful film, be sure to catch in on the tube next St. Patrick's Day. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The second of John Ford's "Cavalry Trilogy", She Wore a Yellow Ribbon is the only one of the three to be lensed in Technicolor. In an Oscar-calibre performance, 42-year old John Wayne plays sixtyish Cavalry Captain Nathan Brittles. In his last days before his compulsory retirement, Brittles must face the possibility of a full-scale attack from the Arapahos, fomented by the recent defeat of Custer and by double-dealing Indian agents. After a series of minor victories and major frustrations, Brittles decides to ride into the Arapaho camp, there to smoke a pipe of peace with his old friend, Chief Pony That Walks (Chief John Big Tree). Before he leaves, he is presented with his retirement present by his troops: a pocket watch, with the inscription "Lest We Forget"(Wayne's playing of this scene, barely holding back tears as he adjusts his spectacles to read the inscription, is one of his finest moments on film). Brittles is able to forestall an Indian attack, just in time for his official retirement. The film really ends here, but there are two more potential climaxes before the words THE END dissolve into view. The patchiness of the Frank Nugent/Lawrence Stallings screenplay (attributal to the fact that it is adapted from two different short stories) prevents She Wore a Yellow Ribbon from reaching the same lofty heights as the Ford/Wayne collaborations Fort Apache (1947) and Rio Grande (1949). The gratuitous offscreen narration of Irving Pichel is also rather distracting. Even so, Wayne's flawless performance, coupled with the supporting contributions of Ford's stock company (John Agar, Harry Carey Jr., Victor McLaglen et al) and the Academy Award-winning photography by Winston C. Hoch, automatically elevates She Wore a Yellow Ribbon to classic status. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The first Technicolor horror film since Mystery of the Wax Museum, Dr. Cyclops was directed by Ernest Schoedsack, of King Kong fame. Albert Dekker chews the scenery as mad scientist Dr. Thorkel, who has developed a process that will shrink human beings to doll size. His first victims include mining engineers Bill Stockton (Thomas Coley) and Steve Baker (Victor Kilian) and biologists Mary Mitchell (Janice Logan) and Dr. Bullfinch (Charles Halton). At first willing to play-act the role of benevolent despot with his miniaturized captives, Thorkel reveals the more sinister side of his personality by abruptly murdering Bullfinch in cold blood (easily the film's most frightening sequence). The rest of the picture details the escape efforts of the three pint-sized protagonists as they hack their way through a jungle of gigantic foliage and do battle with oversized wildlife. Though the cheery Technicolor hues tend to dilute the "scare" quotient in Dr. Cyclops, the special effects are superbly convincing throughout. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Randolph Scott, whom Cooper borrowed from Paramount, plays Leo Vincey, an explorer searching for the "flame of life," a radioactive element hidden in the Arctic parts of Manchuria which, according to Vincey family lore, can bestow eternal life. Setting out on the fearful journey along with British scientist Horace Holly (Nigel Bruce), Vincey is soon joined by Dugmore (Lumsden Hare), a brutish trader, and his daughter Tanya (Helen Mack). In the mountains north of the legendary civilization of Kor, where the "flame of life" is said to be located, Dugmore stumbles over a frozen corpse laden with gold. Greedily hacking away at the corpse, the trader causes an avalanche that kills him and seals off Vincey, Holly, and Tanya from the expedition. The avalanche, however, also exposes a volcanic cave where the trio is taken into custody by Billali (Gustav Von Seyffertitz), Prime Minister of Kor, who brings them before the almighty ruler She, Hash-A-Mo-Tep (She, Who Must be Obeyed). The mysterious female potentate mistakes Vincey for his ancestor John Vincey, for whose return she has been waiting for 500 years. Completely under the spell of this beautiful but ancient monarch, Vincey demands that Holly and Tanya leave without him. But when She discovers Tanya's true feelings for Vincey, the merciless ruler orders the girl to be used as human sacrifice. Tanya is about to be dropped into the Holy Well when Vincey finally comes to his senses. With Holly and a rescued Tanya in tow, he escapes across a dangerous precipice -- right into She's sacred temple -- where a final, climactic confrontation between explorer and ruler takes place. Created by the makers of King Kong (1933) -- producer Merian C. Cooper and screenwriter Ruth Rose -- She, from H. Rider Haggard's 1886 novel, proved a disaster at the box office, losing a total of $180,000 according to some reports. Much of the blame was placed, unfairly perhaps, at the feet of Broadway actress Helen Gahagan, who made her screen debut in the film's all-important title role. Filmed at least four times in the silent era (including a 1925 British production starring American femme fatale Betty Blythe), She was remade twice by low-budget Hammer Films, in 1965 starring Ursula Andress and as The Vengeance of She in 1967. ~ Hans J. Wollstein, All Movie Guide

Joan Colby (Ann Harding) is the unmarried older daughter in a once-wealthy family. She's always been the mature, level-headed one among the two sisters, but she is feeling the pressure to find a husband especially strongly these days, as her much more flighty and impetuous younger sister Valerie (Lucille Brown) is about to marry. Joan has been lately seen in the company of John Fletcher (William Powell), the wastral heir to a once-great shipping company -- he doesn't care a bit about the family business, but still has enough money to live an upper-class lifestyle without worry, and is a well-known playboy, and enjoys Joan's company. With her sister's help and the unwitting participation of her well-meaning father (Henry Stephenson), Joan manages to set up a situation in which John is forced to do what they used to call "the decent thing" and marry her. Joan is secretly torn by guilt about how she got his name, however, and tries to be a truly good wife for John over the months that follow -- she gets him to clean up his life a bit, and to take himself more seriously and look past the next game of polo, and even starts to convince him to take more of a role in his family's moribund shipping line, which is about to pass into outside control as a result of his neglect. But when Valerie, in a fit of anger, blurts out the truth about how their marriage came about, John loses all interest in Joan, returning to the company of his ex-girlfriend (Lillian Bond) and turning the matter over to his lawyers. Now Joan has to fight on two fronts, to help save her husband's business, and also to save their marriage before it's too late. Given this plot, it may seem odd that Double Harness was presented as a comedy, but it is, and a good one, too. The humor lies in the way the upper-class are shown "coping" with the Great Depression, and the witty presentation of the romantic flirtations in the lives of Joan, Valerie, and John (and their friends), as well as the tone of John and Joan's marriage -- Joan, in particular, has a wryly detached side that comes out even at her most unhappy moments. It's all very sophisticated, a comedy by adults, about adults, for adults, and it holds up amazingly well as a piece of entertainment across 75 years. In some ways, Double Harness is also a bit reminiscent of the 1930 version of Holiday, which is perhaps not entirely accidental or surprising, as the latter also starred Ann Harding, although Cromwell's 1933 film is a far more skillful and accomplished cinematic work by modern standards. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

The melodrama If I Were Free was adapted from the play Behold, We Live by John Van Druten. War veteran lawyer Gordon Evers (Clive Brook) is trapped in a loveless marriage to Catherine (Lorraine MacLean). Sarah Cazenove (Irene Dunne) is trapped in a loveless marriage to Tono (Nils Asther). The couple meet each other in Paris and fall in love. Tono runs off with another woman and Sarah returns to her antiques shop in London. The lovers want to marry, but Catherine won't give Gordon a divorce and Tono shows up unexpectedly at Sarah's shop. After a scare from the doctor about Gordon's health, the couple is united with the help of Gordon's mother (Laura Hope Crews) and their friends, Hector (Henry Stephenson) and Jewel Stribling (Vivian Tobin). ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide

The scandalous doings behind the high-toned exterior of a private school for rich young women provides the framework for this interesting but turgid drama. Much of the story centers on an unhappy socialite and her smart-alecky, world-wise roomy who has no morals at all when it comes to getting what she wants. This of course, puts her at odds with the school's overly class-conscious administration, who live in mortal fear of scandal. As a result, the staff is encouraged to remain cool and aloof, something that causes the lonely socialite, who longs for her parents love, to become deeply depressed. Unfortunately, her father doesn't seem to care and her mother is too busy climbing the social ladder to notice. The socialite becomes increasingly despondent and thinks of suicide. Still she is not immune to the girlish pranks and gaiety of her peers. Her life also improves when she falls in love with the handsome med student who works at the school as a waiter. Unfortunately, things get bad again when he accidentally impregnates her. Fortunately, it all works out for her in the end. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Though the story isn't much, this actioner does offer a neat behind-the-scenes look at the travails of Hollywood stuntmen as it chronicles the romance between a stunt man and an extra. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

An earthy, fun-loving radio pitchwoman finds it difficult to live up to her squeaky-clean public persona as the "Purity Girl of the Air." This comedy chronicles the frantic efforts of her bosses to keep her on the straight and narrow when she goes out on the town. It's not easy because she is a shameless flirt. To put the kibosh on her constant coquettishness the publicity guys come up with the idea of having her choose a "professional sweetheart" from the many male admirers who frequently write her. They choose a naive Kentucky hayseed and much to everyone's surprise the Purity Girl falls in love with him. Unfortunately, after their radio wedding, the gal plans to ditch her radio gig and live the quiet life of a country housewife leaving the publicity men in a real quandary. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide

Set in New York's Greenwich Village (specifically, on Bleecker Street), William Seiter's Rafter Romance is a cute romantic comedy, the plot of which contains echoes (or, more accurately, foreshadowings) of Shop Around The Corner. Ginger Rogers plays Mary Carroll, a young woman from upstate who came to New York to find a job and a career, but whose money has almost run out; Norman Foster is Jack Bacon, an aspiring artist living in the same building, in the attic loft, who is months behind on his rent, as well; their landlord, Max Eckbaum (George Sidney), a good-natured soul who wouldn't harm a flea, as he might put it, nevertheless has expenses to meet, and could have rented Mary's apartment to a paying tenant several times over. He comes up with the solution -- move Mary into Jack's loft; after all, Jack works all night as a watchman and sleeps all day, and Mary now has a job selling refrigerators (a relatively new household gadget in 1934) by telephone, that keeps her out all day. To make it all work for the two unwilling tenants, Eckbaum arranges so that neither one ever sees or knows who the other is, but each still manages to get the most dreadful impression of what the other is like, and a series of misunderstandings, and the inevitable crowding that goes on in these situations, leads to a series of increasingly annoying pranks aimed at the other. But their situation really gets complicated when Mary and Jack manage to cross paths and meet out of the apartment, each not knowing who the other is, vis-a-vis the loft, and start to fall in love. And matters get even more complicated (and the comedy ratcheted up several steps higher) by the presence of Robert Benchley as Mary's boss, a lecherous if bumbling executive; Laura Hope Crews as Jack's would-be "patron," a lonely, libidinous older woman with a ton of money; and Guinn Williams as Fritzie, a cab-driver who takes on the role (initially with her encouragement) of Mary's protector. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide

A boozy newspaper reporter is booted out of his job for drinking too much. A few fateful twists later, he becomes partners with a talented advertising executive and opens a business. The former reporter proves to have a killer's instinct and all the morals of a shark. Under his helm, the business thrives, but his personal life falls to ruin when his fiancee kills herself. Returning to the sanctuary of alcohol, he drinks himself blind and jeopardizes the career he worked so hard to build. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide